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This weekend is the ARRL 10 Meter Contest. This years contest, the
one for 2006 and perhaps 2007 will probably all have very few
sunspots, but as weve discussed in recent bulletins, sometimes 10
meters opens when we least expect it, even in the middle of the
night or very early morning hours. Mark in Schenectady, New York
will be running QRP in the contest this weekend. He wants to remind
us to check paths from the northern to southern hemisphere, which at
times may provide the only long distance openings. Dont be afraid to
call CQ on what sounds like a dead band. You can also check the
beacons down in the area between 28R2 to 28R3 MHz, where most of
them are, anyway, or the very useful NCDXF beacons. A list of 10
meter beacons and the NCDXF beacon details can be found on the web.
One of the remarkable features of the NCDXF beacons is that the
timing is precisely controlled, so it is easy to tell where a weak
signal is coming from if you know what time it is, even if you cant
copy the call sign. Also, they step through several discrete power
levels, at 100 watts, 10 watts, 1 watt and 100 mW. Another nice
thing is that their network also covers the globe for 12 meters,
which can sometimes give a hint of good things to come if 10 meters
is not quite open yet. Sunspot numbers and solar flux declined as
sunspot 826 moved to the edge of the visible solar disk. Sunspot
numbers peaked after the beginning of the month. Average sunspot
numbers for the past week, the first week of December, were almost
39 points above the previous week, at 72R6. Geomagnetic conditions
were very quiet for the past few days. For this weekend, the
predicted planetary A index from December 9 to 12 is 7, 12, 10 and
5. Predicted solar flux for today, December 9, is 85, and 80 is
predicted for the following five days. Sunspot numbers were 79, 98,
75, 91, 85, 58 and 22 with a mean of 72R6. 10R7 cm flux was 98R2,
106R3, 101R3, 95R2, 91R7, 89R1, and 89, with a mean of 95R8.
Estimated planetary A indices were 13, 12, 11, 5, 2, 3 and 0 with a
mean of 6R6. Estimated mid latitude A indices were 12, 10, 9, 3, 2,
2 and 1, with a mean of 5R6‚

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